First Time
by Bluben
Summary: Hiccup doesn't know what to do with the dragon in the cove, especially because he doesn't know much about dragons at the moment. Amazingly, Gobber himself helped him figure it out, even if it wasn't intentional. (HTTYD 1 AU) (OOCish Hiccup)


**Title: First Time**

**Summary: Hiccup doesn't know what to do with the dragon in the cove, especially because he doesn't know much about dragons at the moment. Amazingly, Gobber himself helped him figure it out, even if it wasn't intentional.**

**Rating: K+**

**EDIT: If you're reading this it's cause I'm not the smartest person around. Sorry!**

…

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**First Time**

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...

He's not sure what to do.

He's currently in the forge, working and pounding on some weapons that need sharpening, though the barrel seems to be getting emptier and emptier by the fact that the last raid that happened was when it was a couple of days before the final expedition by his father. Hours after the fact that he defeated the Zippleback by himself, he threw away the fish and just went into the forge, deciding that maybe hammering out might just melt away his one major problem.

The Night Fury in the cove.

He sighs angrily, the beautiful finished sharpened spear not giving him any satisfaction as he starts to think again. Should he make a tailfin that will give the Night Fury all of his freedom back at the cost of maybe said dragon destroying Berk and if so, does he even want to give the Night Fury his freedom? He shakes his head, that's not the burden of his problems. He wants the Night Fury to live but how will he know that it won't start to raid the village with extra passion now that it knows that one of them did manage to take them down.

Especially the runt of the village.

He can't believe this. If he can't manage one life, then how is he supposed to lead an entire village that will depend on him and his orders and advice? This is hard. He wants the Night Fury to flourish and be happy because he knows that he isn't one bit happy being grounded but giving him all the freedom? He doesn't know if that's the best solution for the rest of Berk. That being said, he doesn't know if dragons even hold a grudge. If he risks setting it free, how does he know that the Night Fury won't just completely attack Berk for destroying its freedom for those couple of days?

Gods, he's losing it and losing it fast.

He sighs as he puts the finished weapon in the finished weapon's barrel, grabbing another weapon to sharpen. He decides that the course of action for the moment is just to finish the barrels and just numb his mind. Once he's done with that, he'll let his mind wander for what seems to be the _right_ solution for him. Right now, focus on the axe.

"You're here early." The blacksmith greets to him from a distance as he's inspecting the axe, trying to find the missing details of how to make the axe perfect. He hums to his second father figure and co-worker of the forge, not wanting to use his voice as he knows that it's going to drown out by everything around the forge.

"Congratulations on getting first place with the Zippleback." Gobber continues, his voice moving around as he hears wood on slabs, indicating that he's moving around, probably getting ready to do some orders of new weapons because he's doing the repairs. He nods his head, not wanting to tell him the strategy he used on the Zippleback. He finishes inspecting the axe and then proceeds to repair the axe, hoping that the noisy environment will make Gobber not wanting to talk to him.

It gets quiet, save for the noises and hisses around him as both him and the other blacksmith start working around the forge, completing orders. As much as there's banter between the two of them, there are also many times where they're just quiet, no words need to be exchanged for the two of them. He's happy that Gobber got the hints that he wants it to be just silence, not really in the mood talking with Gobber knowing that he's keeping a deadly dragon on the outskirts of Berk.

"So, I have to ask." Okay, maybe he didn't get the complete hint that he wants a silent forge. "You think you'll ask Astrid out?"

"What?" His voice cracks the air before he even notices it, stopping completely from his work to turn towards the other side of the forge, seeing Gobber's back as he's measuring the wood for the handle of the new weapon. "What did… Did you… Wha?"

"Oh come on Hiccup!" Gobber exclaims, stopping his job as he turns towards him, both of them making eye contact. "It's obvious as Odin's beard that you like her. Now that you're doing decently, you can ask her out. What's stopping you now Hiccup?"

"Yeah, no thank you. As much as I like you Gobber, I'm not going to take your advice on that." He replies to the blacksmith as he turns around first, trying to refocus on the task at hand. "And besides, I don't think Astrid is thrilled at the fact that I'm leading Dragon Training."

"Bah," the blacksmith says to him as he's starting to do orders for new weapons while he gets ready to repair the axe. "Don't tell me you're getting cold boots."

"Cold feet."

"Cold boots!" Gobber corrects him incorrectly. "Unless the trolls take them."

"Them?" He continues, not once stopping his work on repairing the axe. "I thought all they took was just left socks."

"Right but what's stopping them from taking boots? They're comfortable, aren't they?"

"Are you alright Gobber?" He asks his mentor and old friend, completely lost on what is happening with him.

"The point is!" He continues as if everything he says isn't ludicrous. "when are you going to ask Astrid out?"

"It isn't that easy." He sighs out afterwards. It seems like no matter how much he tries to get on her good books, it just turns out going the opposite direction entirely. He screwed up a lot, he doesn't get that much sympathy with her. Now that he's doing fantastic, it seems like she's not satisfied being number two. He doesn't get her.

What does it take to get her attention the right way?

"Probably beheading a dragon." He mutters his unsaid question.

"What's that?"

"No, nothing Gobber." He says to him, again not pausing at all on the weapon he's working on.

"Are you talking about riding a dragon?"

"What?" He stops for a second time as he turns towards the older blacksmith, confusion on his mind. "Is that a thing? Do people ride dragons?"

"Of course Hiccup!" Gobber says on the top of his lungs as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "How do you think we get from one dragon to another easily? Just jump on the dragon, kill it and then jump to the closest one."

Riding a dragon…

"Right." He says, the gears in his mind slowly working on a solution. A solution to a problem that has been haunting him for the better part of the day. "So I guess it's possible then for a Viking to just ride a dragon then?"

"Well it ain't comfortable," Gobber says, now it's him not missing a beat as he turns his head slightly to find him not moving. "Now move your bottoms Hiccup. Those weapons ain't going to sharpen themselves."

"Right, right." He says as he turns around, his mind racing at the obvious thing. Of course, he saw a Viking on top of a dragon the last raid, why didn't he think of that? With that, he can see if the Night Fury has any horrendous intentions and learn even more from the dragon. He doesn't know if that's the right way ethically, because he can just make the tailfin without a rider but he's just too afraid to make the morally right decision by letting the dragon completely free.

"By the gods." He mutters out, looking towards the finished product of the axe. "I don't know what to do." He puts the weapon in the complete barrel and just stops, looking towards the needs of repairing barrels and seeing it empty. He then cleans up his section, knowing that he's done for the moment. With that, his mind starts to expand on the idea of riding Toothless.

The pros are quite simple. He's with the dragon more and he can learn even more tactics with how to deal with the dragons passively. Another positive is the fact that he's going to bond more with the dragon. Sure, all he's giving him are food and his trust, but he doesn't know if dragons can destroy trust. He's not sure how the dragons work or if they have an idea or concept on trust.

No, that's a lie. The Night Fury is quite a complex and understanding dragon that he does understand trust.

The cons are also quite there. He's going to completely be in shackles. Even then, there's got to be a limit on how much he can learn and just how many tricks there are for dragons. When that becomes to no longer be a pro, where can he turn to to make himself feel better? The poor Night Fury will no longer be able to fly on his own now that he's going to be a rider. With that, he's not too sure if he's willing to swallow that. He has the tools to make him an automatic fin, all he needs to do is look at the tailfin and work from there. What if he's just looking at this the wrong way, knowing trying to find a bad angle just for him to ride Toothless.

"You okay lad?" Gobber breaks his thoughts, making him whip his head around to see Gobber looking at him inquisitively. "You don't seem to be in this world of Midgard." He smiles lightly at the concern of the other blacksmith.

"Fine, just thinking of the future." The blacksmith nods.

"Right. Astrid."

"No, not—"

"I wonder how many kids you guys are going to have?"

"Gobber…" He says lowly, making the blacksmith laugh.

"Oh come on, lad. I can predict it now. She's going to kiss you in front of everyone yet won't be your girlfriend until a couple of years later. Even then, you guys are going to act like a couple." He says with a huge smile, making his jaw drop.

"Gobber." He says, "if I do take it that slow, please do punish me by making me do most of the blacksmithing." He shakes his head. "I might be back here Gobber, can you please keep the fire on?" He asks, wanting it to be hot for the moment as he tries to find himself the conclusion of the whole predicament.

"' Course lad." He says, turning his back around. "Going to build something insane?" He asks and he smiles at the back of his blacksmith, knowing that Gobber won't be able to see his smile.

"Yeah."

…

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…

"I wish you could talk bud." He says to the Night Fury as the dragon's head is on his lap and he's petting it softly on the fins on top of his head. The Night Fury grumbles softly, making him sigh even more. The light of the sun has been slowly evaporating as the light of the moon is about to shine down on Berk.

"This would be much easier. I want to give you your freedom but I don't want you wrecking Berk."

He then grabs Toothless' head with both of his hands putting him at eye-level with his. His vibrant green yellowish eyes the major thing he's seeing at the moment as he stares into the eyes of the enemy.

"Don't go around terrorizing us alright?" He says to the dragon, moving his hands around thus making the dragon's head move. The dragon rolls his eyes and flops down again, making him grunt as the sudden weight being pressured on his lap.

"Okay. Thanks, bud." He says a little after, the silence just bringing him peace for the moment.

Even after all these hours that have dwindled, he's still thinking to himself, should he do it. Risk the freedom of Toothless just so he can be extremely sure that Berk won't be under attack. He looks down again and resumes petting him, subconsciously putting himself at ease with the motion.

"I'm sorry bud," he mentions very softly. "I think I have to do it. Maybe, later on, I'll give you the freedom that you deserve. But, unfortunately, I can't risk what _can _happen."

Toothless just grumbles, slightly aware that something is distressing him but rather keep himself still so that he can still pet him. He hates himself morally that he's putting him in chains. A powerful beast that terrorizes villages and makes them respect him turned into just a dragon with a rider.

But if it'll help Berk, then he'll do it. He promises himself that he'll correct this wrong in the future.

"I'm sorry bud."

…

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…

**This was originally going to be a much longer story, as every step, Hiccup and Toothless enjoy more and more being a rider and dragon and becoming better as one. Needless to say, I stopped and said "it's fine. Let the readers go on from there."**

**This idea kind of came to me by the fact that Hiccup seems to be able to create an automatic tailfin maybe a couple of months after the events of HTTYD 1 (Gift of the Night Fury). So I'm curious, why didn't he? The logical explanation was that he couldn't or maybe he was in tunnel vision because the first time he tried the prosthetic tailfin he was there controlling it and therefore went from there for improvements instead of making Toothless independent. I think he's a bit out of character in this one-shot but hey, whatever makes this one-shot seem decent is good enough for me.**

…

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**…**

**Created: July 29, 2019**

**First Draft Complete: November 14, 2019**

**Final Draft: November 15, 2019**

**Published: November 15, 2019**

**Re-Published: December 3, 2019**


End file.
